The present invention relates to a powered closing device for closing a vehicle door from its half-latched position to its full-latched position by the power of a motor and, in particular, to a safety mechanism of the powered closing device.
A conventional powered closing device has a safety mechanism which interrupts a closing operation of the powered closing device when a hand of the operator or the like is accidentally caught between a vehicle door and a vehicle body while the vehicle door is being moved toward its full-latched position by the power of a motor. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Gazette No. 7-180416 (equivalent to U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,425) published on Jul. 18, 1995 describes a powered closing device which comprises a latch engageable with a striker fixed to a vehicle body, a ratchet engageable with the latch for maintaining the engagement between the latch and the striker, an output member rotatably mounted on an attaching shaft, a motor for rotating the output member when the latch comes into a half-latched position, an intermediate lever operatively connected to the latch for displacing the latch from the half-latched position to a full-latched position when rotated a connecting member having a connecting position in which a rotation of the output member is transmitted to the intermediate lever and a disconnecting position in which the rotation of the output member is not transmitted to the intermediate lever, a cancelling lever connected to an opening handle of a vehicle door. The cancelling lever causes the connecting member to displace from the connecting position to the disconnecting position when the opening handle of the door is operated, thereby the latch is released from the motor.
The above mentioned closing device is formed thin as a whole to be easily installed within the inner space of the door. However, the cancelling lever is arranged such that it is not overlapped with the output member, so the conventional device has a disadvantage of becoming larger in area. Further, the cancelling lever is arranged such that it is moved toward the attaching shaft of the output member when the opening handle is operated, so the connecting member is formed into an elongated link-like shape having a length approximately equivalent to a diameter of the output member.